NEWS RELEASE
LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY
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Lakehead University has received research funding totalling $354,666 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) that will allow seven researchers to study issues related to individuals and society.
Lakehead Orillia campus associate professor Dr. Valerie Hébert, departments of history and interdisciplinary studies, is receiving a three year $51,473 Insight Grant to write a monograph exploring the complex ethical dilemmas associated with viewing, exhibiting, and engaging with images of atrocity, specifically photographs taken during the Holocaust.
“Photographs are how I came to learn history,” said Dr. Hébert. “My grandfather had a book of Time Life photographs chronicling major events of the 20th century. They gave me a visual vocabulary for events I would later study, write, and teach about. So, in a sense, this project brings me full circle to where my interest in history began.
“In the age of social media, we are more and more a visual society. When it comes to images of suffering bodies, we ought to be conscious of the harrowing circumstances of their creation, and the responsibilities of the viewer in light of these circumstances.”
Dr. Hébert’s book will discuss the many functions photographs serve in understanding atrocity, and where we might look for guidance in engaging them sensitively.
Dr. Manal Alzghoul, assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus, is receiving a $65,250 Insight Development Grant to explore immigrant parents’ knowledge and cultural beliefs along with factors contributing to the risk of unintentional injury to children.
“My research will examine the acceptability of injury prevention programs to immigrant parents,” Dr. Alzghoul said, adding that the study will be conducted with immigrant families living in northern and rural Ontario.
Unintentional injuries are a major cause of death and disability among children worldwide and in Canada. Immigrant families, who comprise 21.3 percent of the Canadian population, may have a different understanding of children’s risk of injury as well as knowledge of prevention strategies based on safety standards in their home countries, cultural norms, and housing environments. Compared to non-immigrants, immigrant children are 23 percent more likely to be injured if they are young (i.e. under 14 years of age), male, reside in northern and rural areas, and have a higher socioeconomic status.
“The findings of this research may inform the design of injury prevention initiatives to improve the knowledge, perceptions, and engagement of immigrant parents,” Dr. Alzghoul added.
The project will take two years to complete. For each year, one master’s student and three undergraduate students will perform research with Dr. Alzghoul.
“Thank you to SSHRC for recognizing this important research and to our researchers for their dedication,” said Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President, Research and Innovation.
In 2019/20, Lakehead University will receive nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.
SSHRC Insight and Insight Development Grants
Total Funding: $354,666
Insight Grant (three-year grants):
Dr. Valerie Hebert, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of History,
Five Shots from Sdolbunow: Photographs of the Holocaust by Bullets, 1942, $51,473
Dr. Amanda Maranzan, Department of Psychology,
Self-stigma and strategic disclosure amongst Canadian post-secondary students, $70,528
Collaborator
- Dr. Patrick W. Corrigan, Illinois
Institute of Technology Insight Development Grant (two-year grants):
Dr. Travis Hay, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Indigenous Learning,
The Colonial History of Medicine in Northwestern Ontario 1930-1990, $20,166
- Project Elder: Terri Redsky Fiddler
- Partners: Sandy Lake First Nation; Nishnawbe Aski Nation
Dr. Sylvane Filice, School of Nursing,
"Regard en arrière, regard vers l’avenir: une approche herméneutique pour examiner le vécu des infirmiers/ères francophones dans le Nord de l’Ontario”, $38,203
Co-applicants:
- Dr. Mary Ellen Hill, Lakehead University
- Dr. Isabelle Lemee, Lakehead University
- Dr. Michelle Spadoni, Lakehead University
Dr. Ravi Gokani, School of Social Work,
Proselytism and Service Provision in Conservative Evangelical Faith Based Organisations: Managing Competing Mandates, $59, 615
Dr. Deborah Scharf, Department of Psychology,
Adolescent Exposure to Cannabis Marketing, $49,431
Co-applicants
- Dr. Michel Bédard, Lakehead University
- Dr. Rupert Klein, Lakehead University
- Dr. Anna Kone, Lakehead University
Dr. Manal Alzghoul, School of Nursing,
A Mixed Methods Study of Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of Risk Factors, Prevention Strategies, and Accessibility of Injury Prevention Programs to Prevent Unintentional Injuries in Children in Rural and Northern Ontario, $65,250
Co-applicants
- Dr. Vicki Kristman, Lakehead University
- Dr. Souraya Sidani, Ryerson University
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